Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Arab media and I

I can't be hosted in Arab (or Iranian) media. The Aljazeera fellow who called me yesterday to invite me to offer a few opinions by phone (on US foreign policy, as always), he said that my voice has not been heard on AlJazeera in four months. I said: of course, not as I became a victims of their "sulhah" (reconciliation) with Saudi Arabia. And this morning a reporter for Al-Quds radio in Damascus called me for an interview. I told him: for your sake and not mine, don't host me. I told him that Syrian media and Iranian media invite me to speak against their enemies but that I can't spare the Iranian and Syrian media from criticisms of Syrian and Iranian regimes. I once warned Syrian TV host, Nidal Qabalan, that I would be criticizing the Syrian government on live TV, and he urged me not to. I did of course. Nidal is now Syria's ambassador in Turkey: I hope this is a promotion. I did the same with an Iranian radio interview. But I would not mind at all appearing on an episode of the Family Guy (my favorite TV show): and I would not criticize Mayor Adam West.

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

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